Have a good Fest!

Edinburgh is the craziest scene I have ever seen--thousands of people, thousands of shows, all packed into this gorgeous little city for three weeks. In a way I'm glad that I was only there for three days, I suspect I may have gone mad otherwise. It's hard to keep that up. I went with my classmate, Sarah. We left Thursday morning at 2:30 AM to catch the Gatwick Express. Rather than try and sleep, we just stayed up all night. Worked okay the first time! When we arrived in Scotland, about 9:00, we had a Scottish breakfast, then plunged right in. Four shows later (reviews below), we finally made it to the hostel, where we collapsed. The hostel was nice, but it was really far away from the center of town, so I don't recommend it unless you're doing a more traditional visit of Edinburgh--IE, not staying out until all hours of the night seeing theatre and meeting people. The next day we slept in until ten and then went and saw three shows, including my favourite, "Improbable Frequency." Sarah's friend from high school was there, so we all went out for dinner. Sarah had haggis, and I tried a bite, it was actually pretty good. I suspect, however, that the receipe has improved somewhat over the past hundred or so years. After that we went out to experience the Edinburgh nightlife, ending up, I'm not making this up, hanging out by a giant inflatable purple cow that was on it's back and provided another performing venue. Yesterday we decided to treat ourselves by getting massages, so I had an aromatherapy massage with lavender, geranium and black pepper. It was lovely, only then I kept smelling myself all day. Mm. Pepper. We had breakfast at the Elephant House, which is a small, clean, cozy, somewhat unremarkable place--and it's also where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. So I was sitting there going "oh, I'm so relaxed and peppery...aH!!!! THIS IS WHERE HARRY HAPPENED! I feel so inspired!!! ...and relaxed..." That afternoon we managed to squeeze in three shows (most are under an hour and a half long) and had fish and chips for dinner. Proper fish and chips, greasy wrapped in paper f&c, the kind that you regret as soon as you're done. Mmmm... We finished our shows with a concert by Rain Pryor, who we'd seen earlier in another show. Ms. Pryor sang jazz standards and different renditions of songs, including a jazzed up "Sunrise, Sunset." Being our last night in Edinburgh, we went pub hopping, starting with a place called the Beehive. When we walked in, Sarah said "is this a gay bar?!" due to the incredibly high density of incredibly hot men, but then we realised they were probably a football team or summat. Also during this week was the Tattoo, a review of Scotland's military bands, so there were also plenty of men walking around in kilts and uniforms. Very nice. I managed to restrain myself from getting my picture taken with a bekilted man, unlike some Americans I saw.

Having stayed out so late last night, we took a taxi back to the hotel which waited while we threw our stuff together and then took us to the airport for our 8:30 flight. I was (am) so exhausted that I slept in the waiting room, slept on the PLANE, which never happens--literally sat down, put my head back and slept--then got home and (took a shower, finally) got into bed. Six hours later my stomach woke me up by shaking me and going "hey, how about some real food, none of this fish and chips and pan au chocolate crap you've been eating?" So I had pasta.

I really enjoyed Edinburgh, even if I didn't manage to see anything even remotely to do with the city or historical. Even though I walked around the castle all weekend I didn't even get up THERE, but I had such a great time, I didn't really miss it. ("Why are all those bleachers up at the castle?" "Quidditch match.") I think the highlights of the weekend were being propositioned in broad daylight by a nice-looking banker person who was astonished when I said "thanks, but NO" and listening to dance music being played on an alp horn by a street busker. Then of course there was Sarah's come back line to a group of unruly teenagers, one of whom thought it was funny to walk past her singing, "I like your scarf, it makes me horny!" Sarah: "You're twelve!" "Shut your mouth!" Only he was Scottish, so it came out more like "Shuut yer mooth!" hahaha.

So here are all the shows I saw, in order that I saw them:

"The It Girls." BAD BAD BAD, don't see it. A group of high schoolers adapt Moliere (badly), perform it (badly), and wonder why the audience didn't call them back for a second bow. Our first show, but we got smarter after that.

"Blogger Diaries." Funny and smart. The author pieced together a series of blogs which were then delivered/reenacted by the actors. So you got a real slice of life of real people who keep online journals (like this one!) about their worries, sex lives and problems in general. Very polished and well acted.

"An Asylum on Every Corner." A musical about mental health and care in the UK. BORING. Very boring, skip it if you can. Sarah and I were both falling asleep. The songs all sounded the same, the dialogue and story were inane, and the conflicts within the script seemed stupid. The only good thing I can say about it was the quality of acting, but the show was horrible.

"Marilyn and Ella." We arrived five minutes late for this show and had to cry our way past a surly teenage doorguard. This show was about Marilyn Monroe getting a gig for Ella Fitzgerald a a prominent Hollywood nightclub by going to see her every night. It was a very interesting, very well put together piece, but teh woman playing Marilyn seemed a little fluffy. Rain Pryor as Ella was amazing though, and it was delicious to hear all that good jazz.

"Love's Labour Won." A piece that was written in the style of Shakespeare, but which took the conventions and twisted them around. So you had a (very out of place) monologue in the middle about how horrible the war in Iraq was, and one of the lovers deciding he needed to go off and find himself before committing to love one person at the end. The technical aspects of the script were great, but the story was a bit weak and misogynistic. The best part was the fact that Sarah was friends with one of the actors, so that night I could sit down with him and talk about his part. "See, the whole show we're told your problem is which girl should I choose? Then at the end, you suddenly take another choice, to leave and Find Yourself. But we never get that this is what you want. When do you make that choice?" "*" Thank you MA degree.

"Pentecostal Wisconsin." As we were looking for the room for "Love's Labour Won,"a nice young man helped us and gave us his flyer. I knew we would have to go before I even saw the title, because he was wearing a cheesehead on the flyer. The show was a one-man retelling of growing up Pentecostal in Eau Claire, and Sarah and I were laughing our heads off at all the midwestern references. When Ryan said "I'm from Wisconsin..." and held up his left hand I was thinking, "HE's doing the Wisconsin map! And no one's going to get it because we're in the UK!" And I burst out laughing so hard he asked me where I was from, so I had to say, "Green Bay!" whilst pointing to the base of my thumb. The show was a riot. AFterward Sarah and I took him out for a beer because he was so good. It was like a little slice of home. Aw.

"Improbable Frequency." This was my favourite show, and if you ever get a chance, GO AND SEE IT WITHOUT HESITATION. It's set in 1941 Dublin, an English spy has been sent to see if the IRA are secretly sending messages to the Nazis and ends up discovering a larger secret and falling in love with an Irish lass. And it's a musical! If I tried to describe it to you, you would think it's stupid. Most of the script is rhymed couplets, and there are some of the worst puns you've ever heard, but it just funny and clever and so well put together. The traditional Irish song which every starts clapping to turning into a Nazi support song, for example (Cabaret, anyone?), a song entitled "Don't Patronise the Irish" and lines such as "I'm not looking forward to going to confession/I wouldn't know where to begin/Here in the arms of British Intelligence/Oxymoronic as well as a sin!"

"The Interview." We literally picked this one out of the catalogue because we had two hours to kill and didn't feel like walking anymore. A futuristic look at marriage where you have to sign a contract or lose your job, house, benefits, etc. It was very well polished, and the discussion felt a little too settled (throw a chair, people!) but I liked the design of the set, which was a big parachute hanging from the ceiling with a zipper in it for the "door."

"Adult Child/Dead Child." An examination of neglect on a child with emotional problems. Two women played the same character and used physical theatre to deliver a hugely emotional play in a small space. I really liked the direction and performances. After seeing shows where people sat around and talked to each other all week, it was great to see people running, jumping, hitting, shouting and moving in general! And the script was really solid--I'm jealous.

"Hedda Gabbler." The dramaturg for The Representative directed this piece, and it's one of Sarah's favourites, so we went... It was just a very tepid production, nothing really stand out-ish or anything extraordinary being discovered. The best part was the maid! She came in and had to put up with Aunt Juju nattering on, until Auntie mentioned "You'll still be working for George" and the maid kind of gave a sigh and went "Yes, miss," and I thought "Dear Lord, she's in love with him!" And sure enough, every time George and she were onstage together...but it is sad when I think the maid had more motivation for dusting the bookshelf when her master was in the room than Hedda did when she shot herself.

"Rain Pryor and her Trio." Our last show was just a jazz set by Rain Pryor (Richard Pryor's daughter) who has the most amazing, smoky voice. I want her CD! She was so friendly and laid back and endearingly awkward between shows. Afterward we had to tell her how much we enjoyed it and she was very friendly and nice to us. And I like her hair.

And that was my Edinburgh experience. I had an amazingly brilliant time, but I'm glad to be home. Everyone was astonishingly friendly (or maybe I'm just used to London rudeness) and upbeat and there was a real sense of camraderie. Yes, a good time was had by all!!!

But now, loyal readers, I'm going to bed, because I'm still exhasted. And!!!! And, and, and, and and, Mom and Dad are coming tomorrow!!!! YAYYYY!!! So I need to be fresh to show them around. Good night!